Re: New Gamer pissed off already

I'd relax. Your machine is mostly OK. Pretty good CPU, and plenty of
RAM. (I presume the odd figure is because your onboard video is
using some of it.) And from what I've Googled, the Compaq
Presario has an AGP slot that allows you to add an AGP graphics
card.

(If you didn't have that, you would have been _really_ screwed.
And you would be well-justified to go back and beat up that salesguy.)

(Can anyone confirm the AGP slot though?)

If you don't feel like spending too much much money (and after
buying a new computer we all feel like that), I'd buy a Radeon 9800
Pro off eBay:

http://search.ebay.com/radeon-9800-pro_W0QQamp;sspagenameZhQ3ahQ3aadvsearchQ3aUSQQcatrefZC5QQfclZ3QQfromZR7QQfrppZ50QQfsooZ1QQfsopZ1QQnojsprZyQQpfidZ0QQsacatZQ2d1QQsofocusZbs

Don't pay more than $80 - $90 dollars for one. If you need help
installing it, ask in the group. You'll probably need to disable the
onboard one too; again, please ask. It's fairly simple, and honestly,
the sooner you get comfortable with sticking things into a PC, the
better. :)

Whatever graphics card you do buy, make sure you buy an AGP
one, _not_ a PCI Express one. Or even a PCI one - while they sound
similar, PCI ones are far far slower than both AGP and PCI Express,
and are basically duds now. (To sum up: all computers can have
a PCI graphics card, but you wouldn't want them.)

Your particular computer has a slot which enables
you to add an AGP graphics card. PCI-Express cards (often called
"PCI-E" or even "PCIE") are a newer technology, but your computer
doesn't have a slot enabling you to add one.

And ignore the naysayers; there are always people who
believe hoarding information is better than sharing it.

P.

.

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